Pretty in pink: Organic Hibiscus Berry Kombucha by Forage

It has taken a while to make this review a reality. I bought and drank several cans of this stuff before actually taking tasting notes during consummation. Thirst would overtake me so I would pop open a can and dispense with my thirst without pen & paper figuring I'd buy another one on my next visit to the grocery store and that I'd review that one. Eventually I put paid to this vicious circle.

The Forage website no longer lists this hibiscus berry stuff. Did tariffs make the acquisition of tropical hibiscus financially untenable? Or perhaps this brew is available only during the colder months? Maybe the brewer just wanted to try their hand at different flavors.

Even if you don't care for the taste of hibiscus, you've got to admit that the reddish pink hue it gives to drinks is sure pretty. The color is provided by a chemical called anthocyanin which, if related to cyanide, is hopefully a benign cousin. This stuff was hazy with the trademark reddish pink. My pour did not produce any head so I figured this would be a fizz-light experience.

The aroma was fruity and floral. I hate to be generic but I am not able to distinguish the floral scents of hibiscus from those of rosehip, another ingredient. As for the fruitiness, it was berry-like but currants and apples come before elderberries and natural blueberry flavor on the ingredients list which also boasts essential orange oil and natural mango flavor further down. On one sniff I thought I caught the blueberry and orange but that may have been purely psychological and merely the result of reading the ingredient list.

Kombucha is tea and so has a light body. Fizziness was mild as expected. The taste was fruity and floral, if you can believe it. There are various fruits and fruit flavorings at play here so there was a fruit punch thing to be had. I think the orange came through as the kombucha warmed. I thoroughly enjoyed the floral flavor and the tartness that hibiscus and rosehip bring as it helped balance the sweetness which was perhaps a bit more than I prefer. It wasn't cloying, mind you.

I really enjoyed this stuff and it reminded me just how tasty hibiscus is. The earliest instance I can recall tasting it goes back to 2011 when Robyn Klinge devised and brewed (or co-brewed) a hibiscus saison that was quite novel to me and very tasty to boot. More recently, my Frau and I were in Milwaukee and we made a stop at Anodyne Coffee where Colombia Rodrigo Sánchez was on tap. The tasting notes mentioned hibiscus - a first in coffee, for me - and it did indeed have a hibiscusy taste.

This brew should satisfy your heartiest cravings for floral tea goodness.